Chapter 2
the sword of spirits
Borders of Sacae. Two days after the bridge's incident
A Klingon, a Sacaean maiden and two Lycian cavaliers walked together across the plains of Sacae, all of them moving toward an old temple now almost in ruin. It almost sounded like a joke, but it was the honest true.
This eccentric group was the one of Lady Lyndis and her retainers, and someone might have wondered why such a strange group, after deciding to move toward Lycia, found itself in the opposite direction of their target right now.
The answer was quite simple: a pilgrimage.
"Here!" shouted an overly excited Lyndis at his companions, pointing at a small construction now visible in the horizon
"The Mani Katti's shrine! Here rest the sacred sword."
"How quaint." commented Sain after hearing Lyn's words
"It is refreshing to see that some local customs are still followed somewhere, instead of the Elimine's teachings." added Kent.
Martok simply stayed silent. He was too busy thinking about possible training paths for her protege and how much time would remain stuck here in this strange land.
The day after Lyn discovered her true legacy, the girl asked to visit an ancient shrine placed in the borders of Sacae; a shrine that, apparently, guarded one of the most ancient and revered weapon ever possessed by the Sacaeans tribes. Kent and Sain, being at her service, simply accepted Lyn's decision and followed her.
Martok, surprisingly enough for all in the group, proved to be quite accepting about this little pilgrimage: of course the old general was a bit miffed about postponing their voyage toward Lycia, but praying for a successful travel and great fame in battle before going to war, all while listening priests singing tales about the greatest heroes of old was a common occurrence among the Klingons and so, when Lyn asked to see this famous sword and talk with the priests, Martok decided to let her do this.
It was also time used by Martok to create some surprises for Lyn's training.
Right now both Lyn and Sain were a little bit ahead the others, spiritedly chatting about the shrine, leaving Martok and Kent behind, something that both the dour warriors appreciated; their friends are good people at heart, but too chatty sometimes.
"Master Martok" asked Kent all of a sudden
"General Martok." corrected Martok calmly. Kent looked at the Klingon a bit surprised, but accepted the correction
"General Martok, forgive my impertinence but I have to ask….where do you come from? I am not as knowledgeable as some sages in Elibe but I think that even the mage-general of Etruria would be hard pressed to recognize your kind."
"I am Klingon, from Qo'nos, Ketha province." Answered Martok swiftly "Don't ask where is it exactly: I am not the greatest Klingon when it come to geography; the only thing I am sure is that is far, far away from Elibe."
"I see" reasoned Kent with a shrug, but it was still not done "Then why are you helping Lady Lyndis? As a general, should your place be with your soldiers?"
"It should, but something happened during a battle against my enemies. A teleport action went wrong and somehow stranded me in this continent, weak and wounded. Lyn found me and helped me while I was wounded and defenseless, and that why I am ready to help her improve her warrior's skill and regain her rightful place inside her family. That and the road to Etruria, where should exist teleportation experts according to Lyn, follow your mistress's path for now."
There was also the issue of the vengeance against the bandits that exterminated her tribe, but this was a more personal matter so he remained quiet.
"And that is why I will not stab Lyndis in the back or try to hamper her quest in any way whatsoever."
Kent almost jumped from his saddle after hearing this phrase
"I am not" tried to protest Kent, but Martok stopped him with a simple gesture
"Please warrior, do I look like a fool? I am a stranger, one with a very exotic appearance and unknown aim. I could be a spy or worse, an assassin from your enemy. I could be a profiteer. I could be anything! You, on the other hand, are a warrior sworn to your lady's service: your duty is defeating your mistress's enemies and protect her from any enemy, be they outside the battlefield or within her own court."
Martok's voice was neither angry nor nervous. He was simply stating the obvious. Kent on the other hand opened his mouth, then closed it, then finally opened it again
"I...i had to ask." said Kent, his eyes down
"And I am not angry with you, on the contrary. I am pleased by your dutifulness. Keep a close eye on me, both you and your companion: be always ready to strike at me with your weapons. I shall prove the worthiness of my words with deeds."
Calmly answered Martok, and with that the conversation was done for the general.
After almost half an hour of silent walking the quartet finally reached their destination: the old temple, a rectangular construction made of stone and colored brick, was finally on the horizon; a small village some blocks away from the temple gently dotted the nearest plains, coloring the green grassland with many, homely colors.
-Where the acolytes and the pilgrims resides, I suppose.- mused Martok idly
The temple had seen better days, that was easy to see: some of its exterior columns had since long crumbled into dust, and the painted walls were rusted and ruined because of both wind and negligence. Even some parts of the wall were in ruin! If this was truly the temple of some great warrior, then the people of Sacae had to be either extremely poor or simply refused to care about their ancestors.
-Let's hope the inside is better maintained. Such negligence would be paid in blood on Qo'nos. I wonder what.- Martok's musing was interrupted by an improvised event: a young girl, barely out of her teen years and dressed with a long, white dress, was coming toward them as fast as her feet could carry her. Everyone inside the group noticed this and the casual mood present a second ago disappeared.
"That dress...the girl is one of the acolytes." murmured Lyn worried "Why is she here?"
Trouble, of course! But apparently Lyn refused to see the obvious. Martok on the other hand quickly moved his hand of the sword.
They quickly reached the girl, at this point breathing raggedly and clearly tired, not a surprise considering the impracticability of her dress. Still, the moment she saw the small group now next to her, and Lyn's garb in particular, her face lightened.
"Your garb...you are...of the Lorca?" wheezed the girl. Sain offered her a canteen filled with water and the girl greedily drank from it.
"I am Lyndis of the Lorca tribe, and these are my companions. What is going on?"
asked Lyn
"The spirits answered...my prayers!" said the young girl "The temple is under attack...looters!"
"And you have no guards?!" shouted Martok surprised. A temple without guards, this was beyond ridiculous! Klingon had learned to guard every single post of their empire since the beginning of their history.
"The temple is sacred" said the girl "No one ever dared to raid it. This is the first time! A madman want to steal the Mani Katti for himself."
"What?!" roared Lyn after hearing this "I will not allow this! Stay here, we shall deal with this. Sain, Kent, move forward and kill any stragglers but do not go inside the temple alone. Martok, stay with me."
Both Sain and Kent quickly obeyed and dashed forward, while Lyn and Martok moved behind them, sword already drawn. While they moved toward the temple Lyn maintained a steely composure and an iron grip on her sword, something that managed to rip a small smile from the old general
-Lyn is already learning to be a commander: she does not ask now, she orders. Good-
Reaching the temple took only some minutes, and when they arrived they stumbled upon the corpse of one of the raiders, a big, burly man armed with axe now sporting a deep wound on his stomach.
Kent quickly moved toward Lyn and made his report.
"We did as we asked, Lady Lyndis. There was only one raider outside, as a sentry. According to some witnesses the raiders are just a couple, but they are all holed up inside the temple on near its entryway. They also destroyed the nearest columns, making impossible reaching them with horses."
"Damnit!" cursed Lyn quietly "You will have to continue on foot then."
"Wait!" intervened Martok "The temple, some parts of the wall are almost crumbling. If we destroy one of the wall we shall have the element of surprise!"
"Destroying part of the temple?" Lyn's face was not a pleased one, but Martok refused to back down
"What is more sacrilegious? Breaking an already crumbling wall or saving the ancient weapon from being robbed?" Lyn's face turned into a scowl, but in the end accepted Martok's reasonings.
"Sain, go with him." ordered Lyn finally "Kent, dismount. You come with me at the entrance." They quickly obeyed and dashed toward their objectives while Martok and Sain quickly reached the temple walls and examined them; it took only a minute to find the weakest point of the construction, a smaller wall in the western part of the temple. It was in a sorry state, with old bricks skipping away dust from the crevices and long, nasty cracks all along the partition.
"This one look promising, Lord Martok, but neither of us possess a hammer. How shall we destroy it?"
"Like this!" Martok took a small step backward and then slammed himself on the crumbling wall. Dust flied everywhere, bricks collapsed and the entire structure slightly trembled the moment a fully mature Klingon warrior hit the wall like a battering ram, but the wall endured.
"Lord Martok." escalated Sain surprised. "What are you doing?" Martok quickly turned down and lashed at him
"Isn't obvious? Creating a hole! Now, What are you waiting for? Get down and start pushing!" Astounded, Sain complied. Together they both started pounding against the wall, one massive Klingon alongside an armored human warrior. The walls trembled, both inside and outside the temple; dust started piling up at their feet and the cracks already present widened even more, but the wall still refused to break.
"One last time." said Martok, beads of sweat falling down from his face. "Lyn and Kent must be already inside, fighting."
Again, they both took some space and then slammed themselves against the wall with all their strength. A terrible groan echoed across the entire building, and Martok redoubled his efforts, refusing to back down. Finally, one piece of the wall collapsed, and then another, and another. With a loud rumble the old wall finally collapsed on itself, opening a new path for both Sain and Martok. Smoke filled the air, a thick mass that blinded the eyes, but Martok refused to wast a single second and charged toward the opening, bellowing a war cry inside the ongoing battle.
Inside the temple Lyn and Kent were already fighting against two axe users and a sword warrior, neither winning nor losing, and Martok's appearance managed to tip the scales in their favor: one axe user was so surprised by this assault that he let his guard down, and received a sword on the gut from Kent in exchange. The other axe user tried to avoid Lyn's sword but ended up next to Sain and Martok in the process and got dismembered after some quick thrusts. Only the sword user remained, flaying wildly his sword in a futile attempt to stave off what was at this point a circle of death.
"Cursed people! How dare you trying to kill Glass, the greatest sword man in all Elibe?!" he shouted in defiance. Empty words coming from an empty man. Martok wanted to attack him and be done with it, but he quickly saw Lyn's face: she was furious, bloodthirsty. She wanted to kill the defiler herself, and Martok decided to let her do this.
With one hand Martok stopped Sain, already ready to use his spear against Glass, and with one gesture he gave space to Lyn.
Lyn charged the enemy swordsman and attacked with strong, almost savage attacks. With pitiless brutality the girl hammered the would be defiler of the temple, cornering him in one angle. Sparkles flied everywhere and Lyn's sword splintered against both metal and stone, so ravenous in her quest to catch Glass's soft flesh. Desperate, Glass tried one last lunge against the enemy, and he actually managed to clip Lyn on her right flank. Some blood escaped from the shallow wound, and at the same time Lyn used Glass's momentum and stabbed the enemy on the chest with such strength that the sword, already weakened, snapped inside Glass's body with a bone-shattering sound.
"No….how...i….greatest" spluttered Glass in his death throes. Lyn simply abandoned her grip on her broken sword, and with it Glass's body. It twitched and moved for some seconds, but in the end it stopped.
"Very good Lyn." congratulated Martok "Now let's find the priests and be done with this temple."
10 minutes later
"Child of the Lorca, I thank you on the behalf of the people of Sacae. You and your companion prevented a terrible sacrilege." it was an elderly man, long white beard and hair on his face and adorned with rich, colored clothes the one talking with Lyn, Kent and Sain right now. All behind him a small cluster of acolytes watched the scene, like children looking at a spectacle.
Martok, despite Lyn's insistence, refused to attend the meeting after seeing the priest and was now a bit far away from both Lyn and the priest, obviously annoyed; he almost yawned at the small crowd for a second.
-Definitely not the kind of priest I am used to listen.- thought the old general: no old but vigorous body, not a single scar to show, no singing of heroic battles, just an old and frail man with a dozen of children inside a crumbling temple. Pathetic!
"In exchange for your valorous act, I shall allow you to touch the sacred sword. Touch the blade, and pray for safe journey." pontificated the old man in the end. One of the many acolytes of the temple quickly moved toward the altar placed at the center of the temple and grabbed a long object covered with heavy, white cloth. Once the object reached the priest's hand, old and excited hands removed the heavy cloth, revealing to everyone the famous weapon.
A sword, the figure was unmistakable. The scabbard was long and thin, far thinner that a normal blade; its knob quite long, and richly ornate with strips of midnight black leather. On a first glance it appeared only as an uncommon sword, nothing incredible about it. And yet Martok could feel the strength inside that weapon, something that managed to break him from his self imposed trance. Call it an instinct possessed by his race, or a strange calling emanated by the blade, but the moment Martok's only eye fixated on the weapon, the old general knew that the blade had sang with joy in glorious battle more than once. He almost felt the blood of the enemy it killed; powerful enemies, worthy enemies.
He inwardly cursed at the thought of such a weapon kept inside such a dusty temple.
"Oh, thank you, priest." said Lyn with tears in her eyes. Both her hands slowly reached the knob of the blade, her eyes closed and a prayer on her lips.
The hand touched the blade and...something incredible happened.
First, it was simple light. A humble candle light that gently washed Lyn's hands. Then the light increased; two fold, three fold, ten fold! A blinding light that invested everyone in the room. Everyone protected his eyes against the blinding light; Martok even drawn his sword, fearing some kind of attack.
And all of a sudden, just as fast as it appeared, the light disappeared, allowing everyone to see the sight of an utterly surprised Lyn firmly gripping the Mani Katti in her hands.
"The sword...i….i." stuttered the girl shocked. Kent and Sain simply stared at her, completely dumbfounded.
"The power of the spirits!" shouted the old priest in pure joy "They looked inside your soul and judged you worthy!"
"What does that mean?" asked the girl confused
"It mean that you are the next wielder of the Many Katti, Lyn of the Lorca." And this time the priest got Martok's full attention: Lyn the wielder of such a powerful blade? Is her protege's fate one of greatness?
"I...i cannot." said the girl after some seconds "I am not worthy."
"Aren't you?" chimed the priest "Then sheathe your sword and let others try."
Lyn did exactly as the priest told, and offered the sword to Kent, Sain and Martok. All of them tried to dislodge the sword from its scabbard, all of them failed. Martok in particular tried his hardest and damned to dislodge the blade from its scabbard, refusing to let a simple sharpened piece of metal be the winner of this strange contest, but in the end he had to accept it: the blade was unmovable.
"Now, try yourself, child." said the priest
hesitant, Lyn grabbed the sword's hilt once again and pulled the blade out of its scabbard
"It came out...effortlessly." Lyn had to accept the evidence this time: the blade was again firmly in her hands, a gentle light sparkling in the blade
"Many challenges you will meet during your life, many hardships and powerful enemies; but you now wield the Many Katti. Greatness will follow you like a shadow." predicted the priest with grave voice
"Now go, child of the Lorca, and meet your fate."
4 hours later. On the road for Lycia.
It was dark at this point: both the battle and the discussion of the priest had proved costly in terms of times, and they managed to travel only for three or four miles before stopping and camping. Not that Lyn minded this, so entranced she was about her new sword.
"I still cannot believe it: this is the many Katti, the greatest and most famous sword in all Sacae, and it is in my hands! It feels so right, like it was meant for my hand. Is incredible."
"Well, there are many legends in Elibe about great weapons that decides their owners." commented Kent with a shrug "What about you, general Martok. Do you know any legends about legendary weapons?"
"We have many legends about our ancient past" answered Martok quietly, still thinking about this strange weapon "but they mostly talk about great heroes like Khaless, Ja'Duc or Kortar. Klingon believes that the warrior make the weapon glorious, not the other way around."
Lyn's shoulders slumped after hearing this
"But" quickly added Martok "This does not mean that we do not revere these ancient weapons: they are after all, the living proofs of the heroism of our people. A great example is Khaless's Bat'leth: there is not a single Klingon in the empire that does not wish to wield such a glorious and powerful weapon. On a smaller scale, every noble house possess a famed weapon used by one of many ancestors during great wars. My house is not exception to this. Speaking of this"
Martok's only eye glinted in the light of the bonfire
"A glorious weapon deserve a glorious user and you Lyn, are only a little runt right now. Tomorrow the training shall begin, and no mercy will befall upon your body: you shall become worthy of that weapon, or I shall kill you trying."
"What are you saying, general Martok?" cried Kent outraged "Who gave you the authority to uphold such a task?"
"I gave him the authority." replied quickly Lyn for Martok "And I will not relinquish it: Martok is one of the best warrior I have ever met and I wish to receive his patronage so, Kent, stand down." Kent grimaced about this but complied, together with Sain "About you, Martok'aj" said Lyn toward Martok, grinning calmly "Do your worst, I will endure."
Martok's smile in answer to this was nothing short of evil.
-You will hate me Lyn, oh how much you will hate me for this, but one day you will thank me.-
Deep Space Nine. 13 29 local hour. Bridge. Stellar date 50814.7
Two days had passed since the little, unofficial skirmish with the dominion warship and the incident with the teleportation room, and the space station's crew still resembled a thrumming hive of activity: ensigns and crew members moved back and forth, making sure that every system inside the station ran smoothly. On a more secluded part of the bridge lieutenant Dax and chief engineer O'brien kept looking at the reports about the strange incident, trying to make some sense into it. Both the deceptively young Trill and the Scottish engineer were dead tired, something quiet easy to read inside their faces, but still refused to stop working.
There was tension in the air: the war against the Dominion was at the gates and one of the greatest supporters of the Federation-Klingon alliance had disappeared in battle; not a great notice if you want to keep an alliance untouched.
So it is understandable the fact that the second commander Sisko ordered all superior officers to report to the brig, many sensed a potential storm incoming upon their heads. A very nasty one.
"So...does someone know why the captain summoned all of us to the bridge?" asked Bashir, the medical officer of the space station, to the other officers all around him. Next to him Wolf, the Klingon officer merely shrugged at his question and awaited for Sisko to intervene.
"Maybe there are some news about general Martok's disappearance." hypothesized Odo. Even the changeling was here, waiting.
"Then why are Dax and O'brien still working on it?" retorted Bashir while looking at his colleagues. Both the young Trill and the Scottish engineer were still working on their respective consoles, refusing to stop even for a second. Only an unhealthy dose of raktajino and sheer stubbornness could explain the fact that they were still working, let alone standing.
"I swear, if they try to keep this up for another day I will order them to go to bed, emergency or not!" muttered the doctor.
"Gentlemen!" said a voice they were all awaiting. Captain Sisko was finally on the bridge, and looked pale: his brown skin looked tired with stress, and his almost shaved hair were covered in sweat. His voice, at least, was as strong and calm as ever.
"Thanks for coming. I have just received news from the Alliance Star fleet command and Chancellor Gowron. The Klingon empire is an uproar after the disappearance of general Martok: many houses among the empire accuse the Dominion about the incident, but some claim that we have something to do about this."
Everyone could hear Wolf's growl after hearing this particular piece of information
"So, to quell any possible suspects that might destroy our fragile alliance, we just received the order from the Star fleet to find and rescue general Martok, or to find his body in case of worst case scenario."
"But why us?" asked major Kira "Why dispatching the Defiant for such a task?"
"Because we were the last people that saw the general before the disappearance and, as I said, because we are suspected of dispatching him. Now" Sisko turned toward Dax and O'brien "Old man, tell me that you have some good news."
"I would not exactly call them good news" answered Dax hesitant "But...maybe we have something. Chief"
"We scanned over and over again the energy signature that interfered with the teleportation beacon. We still have not the faintest clue about its origin, or how it managed to bypass all our security systems, but now we have a lead." The engineer activated a panel placed at the center of the bridge "Look, this is the normal beaming energy signature used by federation technology and this" he pointed at a strange energy spike in the panel. "Is the reason of this damn mess: antichronitons, mesons, chronometric particles, omicron particles plus I do not know what else; they all somehow mashed up and destroyed the Eps conduits. Then, something akin to an energy ray grabbed Martok's energy signature and dragged away from us. The problem is: the energy signature is unknown. I looked inside all the Star fleet archives, the Klingon's ones, even inside the logs of the Cardassians stored inside the station! Nothing."
"What could possibly defeat the Defiant's generators? We are talking about the most powerful ship in the alpha quadrant! Even the Dominion's ships would be hard-pressed to do such a thing." intervened Wolf
"I don't think it was the Dominion's job." answered O'Brien "Theoretically all of this should not be possible in the first place."
"But it is" interrupted Sisko "We will discuss about this later. Now, about this energy signature: can we track it?"
"Yes, and here comes the problem." answered chief O'brien "The trace disappear inside the heart of the Badlands, where even the Maquis do not dare to enter."
"Then general Martok is gone." commented Kira quietly "A simple energy beam would never survive inside that hellhole."
"But this is not a common energy beam, major." countered Sisko "And that is why we shall follow the trail with the Defiant and discover the truth. Dax, doctor, O'Brien, Wolf, I want all of you inside the Defiant in three hours. Major, Odo, the station is all yours until we come back. Keep me updated. Dismissed."
So, another part done.
Good? Bad? Disgusting? Interesting? Something?
Anyway, see you next time